Inside The Bills

He made the 53-man roster at the close of the preseason, then was released after the team needed cornerback help following the foot injury suffered by Ron Brooks in the opener. Now DL Jay Ross is tweeting that he’s going to rejoin the Bills.

The team has not confirmed the signing, but if things play out as Ross indicates he will help to fill the void left behind by Alex Carrington, who was lost for the season after tearing his quadriceps tendon.

Buffalo’s starting defensive line is largely set with Marcell Dareus and Kyle Williams doing the dirty work in the middle. Behind them on the depth chart a tight battle is brewing between a handful of reserve candidates.

Players like Torell Troup, Jay Ross, Alan Branch, Jarron Gilbert and Corbin Bryant has all seen time inside. Several of them have been rotated in with the first unit as well for an extended look at times during the first two-plus week of training camp. Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine admitted that was by design.

“Sometimes we have those guys, you always want to get a look,” Pettine said. “You can sometimes get fooled if they’re going against twos and threes whether it’s your own team or in a preseason game so we like to rotate those guys up. But it’s pretty clear to us that we’re going to have some tough decision to make in that room. You know you’ve built some depth at a position when you look at the math and figure out there are probably some pretty good football players that we’re going to have to part ways with.”

Pettine has said more than once that versatility is the strength of his defensive scheme, with several players asked to know how to effectively play two positions. For defensive tackles however, the versatility isn’t as high a priority.

“Not as much,” said Pettine. “We’d like to have those guys know two positions so it’s either the end and the tackle or the tackle and the nose, but it’s not as critical as it is for the edge guys or the off the ball guys.”

Troup and Branch have fared well when it’s come to neutralizing a double team to let other defenders make plays. Ross, Bryant and Gilbert have been in the offensive backfield more as penetrators. The next two preseason games will likely determine who sticks knowing that most NFL clubs rarely carry more than four DTs.

There really weren’t any surprises on Buffalo’s first unofficial depth chart of the preseason released by the team Monday afternoon, but there are a couple of non-starter roles that were worth noting.

Jarron Gilbert, who made the team’s practice squad last season, is listed as a second-team left DE. He’s been getting consistent reps with the second unit there and has even been sprinkled in for some first team reps.

Gilbert does have familiarity with Mike Pettine’s scheme, having played in it for the better part of two seasons from 2010 to 2011 as a member of the Jets practice squad and active roster as he yo-yo’ed up and down between the two during those years.

Torell Troup meanwhile is listed as a third-team DT even though he’s been used a good deal with the second unit. DT Jay Ross, who has seen reps with the starters due to the limited workload of Kyle Williams is a second team DT.